Automatic sash-fastener.



No. 774,536. PATENTED NOV. 8, 190

D. G. SAUNDERS, JR. AUTOMATIC .SASH FASTENER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 25, 1904. 1H! MODEL. 2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

.No. 774,536. PATENTED NOV. 8, i904.

D. G. SAUNDERS, JR. AUTOMATIC SASH PASTENER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 25, 1904.

N0 MODEL. 2 sHEETs-sHEBT z.

12 W "mlmmuml IIHAWA 4 mmnul Patented November 8, 1904.

PATENT Qrrrcn.

DANIEL GREEN SAUNDERS, JR, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

AUTOMATIC SASH-FASTENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 774,536, dated November8, 1904.

Application filed April 25, 1904. Serial No. 204,895. (No model.) i

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL GREEN SAUN- DEBS, J12, acitizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Kansas City,Missuri, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Automatic Sash-Fasteners, of which thefollowing is a specification containing a full,clear, and exactdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart hereof.

My invention relates to sash-fasteners, my object being to construct asash-fastener one member of which is adapted to be attached to themeeting-rail of the upper sash and the other member of which is adaptedto be attached to the meeting-rail of the lower sash, the upper sashmember having a plurality ofsegmental latching-recesses and the lowersash member having a pivoted spring-actuated segmental latch toautomatically engage said recesses, there being a handle for releasingthe latch, the upper sash member having inclined tightening-lugs and thelower sash member having housings to receive the tightening-lugs, thehousings and tightening-lugs being adapted to tighten up, so as to drawthe meeting-rails together and so as to prevent endwise motion of onerail relative to the other, and my improved sash-fastener comprises thenovel features herein shown, described, and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective of a sash-fastener embodyingthe principles of my invention applied to the meeting-rails of a window,parts of the window being broken away to economize space. Fig. 2is avertical central transverse sectionon the line 2 2 of Fig. 3 and lookingin the direction in- (heated by the arrow. Fig. 3 is a top plan view.Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the upper sash member, parts of the lowersash member being shown in section to illustrate the operation. membershown in Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a Vertical transverse section on the line 6 6of Fig. 3, the bases being shown in elevation. Fig. 7 is a horizontalsection on the line 7 7 of Fig. 6 and looking downwardly.

Referring to the drawings in detail, my im- Fig. is a rear perspectiveof the proved sash fastener comprises the upper sash member A and thelower sash member B, theupper sash memberbeing applied to the upper faceof the meeting-rail C in front of the glass Dand the lower sash memberbeing applied to the upper face of the 1neeting-rail E of the lowersash;

The upper sash member A comprises a base having perforated ears 1O, 11,and 12 and having the imperforate central portion 1.3; the keeper 14,extending vertically from the central portion 13 and having I thesegmental latching-recesses 15 and 16 in its front face; thestrengthening-rib 17, extending from the car 12 upwardly along thecenter of the rear face of the bar 14; the tightening-lugs 18 and 19upon each side of the bar 14, said lugs having the inclined straightfront faces 20 r and having the inclined or rounded upper rear corners21 and having the inclined side faces 21 and having theinwardly-inclined rear faces 22, andthe ledge 23, extending forwardlyfrom the base, said ledge being substantially one-half as thick as thebase, thus forming the recess 24 above the ledge in front of the parts 11, 18, and 19, said recess being wedge-shaped, the side faces 25 and 26being inclined inwardly and backwardly, as shown in Fig.7.

The lower sash member B comprises" a base having the perforated ears 27and 28 and the imperforate centralportion 29, there being a recess 29 inthe rear lower face of the base to receive the ledge 23 and the rearcorners of the base being adapted to engage the side faces 25 and 26, soas to hold thebases from enclwise motion relative to each other; thelatchhousing 30, extending upwardly from said central portion 29 andhavingthe transverselyextending latch-opening 31 in transverse alinementwith the keeper 14:; the latch 32, pivotally mounted in the opening 31upon the pivot 33, said latch having the segmental latchingface 34 toengage in the latching-recesses 15 or 16; the handle 35, extendingforwardly from the latch; the spring 36, inserted between the handle andthe im perforate central portion 29 of the base; the tightening-lughousings 37 and 38, extending upwardly and backwardly from the base andbackwardly from the sides of the latch-housing 30, there being recesses39 extending from the lower ends and inner sides of the housings toreceive the tightening-lugs 18 and 19, there being inclined faces 40 atthe rear sides of said recesses to engage the corners 21 of thetightening-lugs 18 and 19 and there being end faces 41. at the outerends of said recesses 39 to engage the inclined side faces 21 of thelugs 18 and 19, so that when the lower sash is pushed downwardly to itsnormal position and the upper sash is pushed upwardly to its normalposition the latch 32 will spring into the lower recess 16, and theinclined faces 40, sliding downwardly over the corners 21, and the endfaces 41, sliding downwardly against the inclined side faces 21, willdraw the two meeting-rails together, thus forcing the lower-sash baseinto engagement with the side faces 25 and 26, thereby centralizing onemember relative to the other and tightening one member upon the other,so that there will be no rattling of the two members either transverselyof the meeting-rails 0r longitudinally of the meeting-rails.

The base of the upper sash member is secured to the meeting-rail C byscrews 42, inserted through the ears 10, 11, and 12, said ears beingarranged in the form of a triangle, so as to brace the keeper 14 in alldirections. The keeper 14 may be of any desired length and have anydesired number of latching-recesses 15 and 16, so as to lock the sashestogether at any desired point, as required, to leave the window slightlyopen at the bottom or the top, or both, and at the same time have thesashes locked together. Of course the meeting-rails are not drawntogether except when the window is completely closed both at the top andthe bottom. The ti ghtening-lug housings are intended to completelycover the tightening-lugs 18 and 19.

The latch-housing completely covers the latch 32 and the handle 35,except the point of the latch, which extends into the recess 16, and thetop of the handle, which extends forwardly into an accessible position.

Nhen the members are fastened together, as in Figs. 1 and 3, the latchis completely covered and cannot be reached from the outside of thewindow so as to be operated except by operating the handle 35. The ledge23, passing into the recess 29, effectually breaks the joint andprevents the insertion of any thin instrument upwardly between themeeting-rails to engage the latch and open the window.

There is a great advantage in using a pivoted latch instead of a slidinglatch, due to the fact that the latch will turn on its pivot a greatdeal easier than a bolt will slide in a casing. Furthermore, the latchis more reliable in its action and stronger.

The segmental latching-recesses 15 and 16 have bearirig-surfacesconcentric to the pivot 33 of the latch 32, and the latch has a bearing-surface concentric to the pivot to engage the bearing-surface of therecess. This is of great importance, because it presents a largebearing-surface upon the latch to a correspondingly largebearing-surface upon the keeper, thus preventing wear and breakage, andby such a construction it is possible to make a closer fit, thusreducing the lost motion to a minimum.

I claim- 1. In a sash-fastener: an upper sash member comprising a basehaving perforated ears and an imperforate central portion; a keeperextending vertically from the central portion and having a segmentallatching-recess in its front face; and tightening-lugs upon each side ofthe keeper; in combination with a lower sash member, comprising a basehaving perforated ears and an imperforate central portion; a latchhousing extending upwardly from the central portion and having atransverse latch opening in alinement with the keeper; a latch pivotallymounted in the open ing; a handle for operating the latch; a spring foroperating the latch; and tightening-lug housings extending upwardly andbackwardly from the base and from the latch-housings to engage thetightening-lugs and draw the members together; substantially asspecified.

2. In a sash-fastener: an upper sash member comprising a base; and akeeper extending upwardly from the base and having a segmentallatching-recess in its front face; in combination with a lower sashmember comprising a base; a latch-housing extending upwardly from thebase; and a latch pivotally mounted in the latch-housing and adapted toengage in the segmental latching-recess; substantially as specified.

3. In a sash-fastener: an upper sash member comprising a base havingperforated ears, and having an imperforate central portion; a ledgeextending forwardly from the base; there being a wedge-shaped recessabove the ledge; a keeper extending vertically from the central portionof the base, and having a segmental latching-recess in its front face;and tightening-lugs upon each side of the keeper; in combination with alower sash member comprising: a base having perforated ears, and animperforate central portion; there being a recess in the rear lower faceof the base to receive said ledge from the upper sash member, and therear upper edge of the base fitting closely in the wedge-shaped recessabove said ledge; a latch-housing extending upwardly from the centralportion, and having a transversely-extending latch-opening in transversealinement with the keeper; a latch pivotally mounted in said opening toengage in the latching-recess; and tightening-lug housings extendingupwardly and backwardly from the base and backwardly from thelatchhousing, and having recesses to receive the to this specificationin presence of two subtightening-lugs, so as to draw the membersscribing Witnesses. together, and form a tight broken oint between thetwo bases, and hold said bases from DANIEL GREEN SAUNDERS 5 lateralmotion relative to each other; sub- Witnesses:

stantially as specified. ALFRED A. EIOKS,

In testimony whereoflhave signed myname 1 EDW. M. HARRINGTON.

